Blessed with the "gift of gab" are you? That's nice. But true
sales professionals know that before they start gabbing to
customers about their product features or anything else, they
need to listen to what the customer has to say - and demonstrate
that they're paying attention.
Customers won't buy from you if they don't like you, trust you
or respect you. And they are far more likely to buy when you can
position your product or service as a solution to what they
perceive as an important need. Listening is the key sales skill
that allows you to earn customer's trust and uncover their needs
at the same time.
Customers care more that you understand their needs than that
they understand your products.
Who decides whether you're a good listener? The customer does.
And since customers can't read your mind, they can only judge by
the behavior you show them. Here are five primary indicators
that determine whether customers will perceive you as a good
listener:
What kind of questions do you ask? Open-ended questions (as
opposed to "yes" or "no" questions) encourage the customer to
talk. That must happen before you can listen. Most salespeople
ask far too few open-ended questions.
How do you demonstrate your interest? Focus your questions on
the customer's interests, not your own. Why are you talking
about your golf game if this person doesn't play?
Do you take notes? If you're so interested in what the customer
is saying, why wouldn't you take notes?
Do you summarize what you hear? If you think you have uncovered
an important need, restate it to check your understanding. This
not only wards off confusion, it shows that you're paying
attention.
Do you use what you've heard in your presentation? Your product
pitch comes after you've listened, not before. And when you make
your presentation, every feature and benefit you discuss should
be tied to a need you uncovered by asking questions. That is the
true test - and the true payoff - of your listening skills.
Customers won't buy your products unless they first "buy" you.
And no matter how charismatic you think you are, you can't sell
yourself to people who think you aren't paying attention to
their concerns. Never mind being interesting. Be interested.
In The Field: A sales representative for an electrical-equipment
company landed a $77,000 order thanks to the listening skills he
picked up in an Action Selling Sales Training workshop.
On a call to an electrical contractor, the sales rep used
open-ended questions to uncover the key needs driving the
purchasing decision: The contractor needed to buy supplies at a
price point that wouldn't exceed the amount he had quoted for
materials on a particular job, and he needed to buy them fast.
The sales rep listened carefully, restated the needs to check
his understanding and quickly submitted a bid tailored to those
very requirements.
It's hardly surprising that his was the winning bid.
About the author:
Duane Sparks is chairman and founder of The Sales Board, a
Minneapolis-based sales training company that has trained and
certified more than 200,000 salespeople. Please visit our Sales
Training Site or call 1-800-232-3485
Written by: Duane Sparks
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